The Future's Children
by ShadowTrooper1414
Summary: One day, when coming home from a mission, Team Natsu find a couple of kids on the side of the road. Natsu and Gray are confused as to why they're calling them Mama and Papa, while Erza, Lucy and Wendy are only curious why the two kids look like miniature versions of their teammates. Who are these kids and why are they here?
1. Chapter 1

**This was mostly inspired by Love_Psycho and Gloomiebunnie009's Baby of the Future on AO3. It's similar to Another Chance being inspired by liketolaugh's Cosmic Composite. If you don't want to read it, nobody's forcing you to.**

 **Also, I apologize to all of my followers looking forward to more updates on my other stuff. I'm seriously sorry. End-of-year testing has started, and won't end 'til next week. While I will still be writing, there will be no updates in this amount of time.**

 **Another Chance - Chapter 10, one third done, expect sometime in May**

 **Demon Baby Daddy(s) - Chapter 8, written, will be published the week after testing**

 **A Change of Fate - Chapter 2, almost finished, published sometime in May**

 **Title:** Future's Children

 **Rating:** T

 **Pairings:** Gray/Natsu

 **Summary:** One day, when coming home from a mission, Team Natsu find a couple of kids on the side of the road. Natsu and Gray are confused as to why they're calling them Mama and Papa, while Erza, Lucy and Wendy are only curious why the two kids look like miniature versions of their teammates. Who are these kids and why are they here?

 **Warnings/Notes:** Female!Natsu, Unlikely/Impossible circumstances, Cussing, Possible gore later

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything but Hoseki and Nikko. I'm only writing this for your entertainment.

* * *

"Mommy! I wan' my mommy!" cried a little boy with dirtied pink hair.

"Quiet down," hissed one of the guards. "Before you get us in trouble."

The young child with bruises on his face seemed to understand, so he clammed, but still let out a few whimpers and hushed sobs, tears streaming down his face.

"Good," the same guard grumbled.

"Thank god. I thought the damn brat would never shut up. He gives me a headache when he screams for hours on end like that. Doesn't help that he does it every day," the other guard said. The boy's highly sensitive ears picked it up and he hiccupped. Then, another voice spoke up, a girl's, definitely older than the boy.

"Stop picking on my brother, you meanies!" she exclaimed from her neighboring cell.

"Oh? Does the little missy think she's hot shit?" the first guard asked.

"Just leave him alone!" the same girl yelled.

The second guard opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, there was a flash of light and whispered words, too quiet for even the boy to hear. And then black.

* * *

Natsu let out a groan, arms swaying side to side. "Vehicles are evil," she groaned pitifully.

"I'm really sorry my Troia spell doesn't work anymore," Wendy pouted. Natsu turned to the youngest of the team and smiled gently.

"It's fine," the pink-haired female said. "I just hate vehicles."

"Makes me wonder why you haven't died yet, with how many vehicles you travel on," Gray teased.

"Shut up, Ice Princess," Natsu glared.

"How about you don't tell me what to do, Flame-for-Brains," the only male shot back.

"Stop fighting," Erza said menacingly, and the two quickly stuck to each other, one arm over the other's shoulder.

"Aye!" they said in unison.

Lucy giggled at their antics. Her team was still the same, despite seven years passing. Though, that should be expected, seeing as they _were_ on Tenrou Island under the spell. Then, a quiet sound reaches her ears. It was like a keen, a high-pitched whine. Some hushed talking and the keening quieted down.

Tuning out her teammates for the time being, the blonde slowly approached the brush at the side of the road. Cautiously, as to not scare what - or who - ever was there, she pulled the branches of the bush apart to reveal two kids. One was a boy and the other was a girl. The boy had spiky pink hair, olive-green eyes and tan skin, while the girl had long midnight blue hair tied back into a ponytail, dark blue eyes, and pale skin.

"Hey, it's okay, Hoseki," the girl whispered, obviously older. "There's nothing to worry about. Mama and Papa will be here soon. They wouldn't forget us. I'm sure they're really worried."

"B-but, Nikko!" the boy - Hoseki - exclaimed. "I'm really scared! I want Mama and Papa!"

Lucy softly cleared her throat, causing the two kids to look at her. Their eyes filled with relieved tears and, in unison, they cried, "Auntie Lucy!"

In the blink of an eye, they throw themselves onto the blonde, causing her to fall backward. She let out a soft chuckle as she hit the ground with a soft _oof_. Lucy sat back up, now the center of attention for her team. Natsu looked at the kids in puzzlement.

"Who're they Lucy?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Not sure," Lucy responded. "They just jumped on me and called me 'Auntie Lucy.'"

At the new yet familiar voice, the two kids looked up and saw Natsu. The little boy stood and ran for her, albeit slowly, as he was only about four or five.

"Mama!" he cried, latching onto Natsu's legs. The poor teen looked completely lost, staring down at the boy. Slowly, unsurely, she knelt and pet his hair that was colored identically to hers.

"Hey, hey, shh…" she said softly, attempting to comfort the crying child. The tears stopped, but he was letting out a high pitched keen, similar to a baby dragon's.

Meanwhile, the girl had walked over to Gray, then started punching his legs lightly, as if she was mad, yet didn't want to hurt him.

"Stupid Papa!" she yelled feebly. "You were supposed to protect us and you didn't!"

Although being completely confused, Gray knelt and pulled the girl into his arms, giving her a hug. He didn't know why he did it, but he felt that it was the right thing to do at this moment in time.

"It's okay, Papa's here now," Gray said, and the girl finally stopped pushing against him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as if he was going to disappear. He tried to pull away, but she just held him tighter, silently crying. Gray let out a sigh before standing, picking the girl up with him.

Natsu gave the boy hugging her legs a smile before drawing him into her lap, kissing his head lightly. Then she pulled her head away sharply. Why was she acting like this? Was she going soft or something? Light snoring brought her away from her thoughts. She looked down to see that the boy was now out cold, Natsu's jacket clutched in his fists. Natsu slowly stood, wrapping her arms around the child and picking him up.

Lucy looked at the two pairs. Obviously, the girl was Gray's kid, which the blonde could see, seeing as how he used to sleep around. But Natsu and the boy was confusing. Surely they would all notice if the pink haired girl got pregnant and gave birth. Plus, the age wouldn't match up either.

Erza also saw this, but she also saw that the boy shared similar features with Gray when the ice mage was younger, and the girl had Natsu's face and figure when the Dragon Slayer was that age. So, when had these two had kids? Were they even from this time? It was really hurting her head - surprisingly - so she put it off to talk with about Makarov later.

Wendy sensed the strong Dragon Slayer-like magic coming from the two. It was possible they were being trained by Dragon Slayers, maybe even a Dragon Slayer's children. But who would have had kids? Not any of the Dragon Slayers in Fairy Tail, so maybe one from a different guild or a stray Dragon Slayer, if there were any. Maybe she would talk to Gajeel and see what he thought - if he was even at the guild when they got back.

Natsu looked at Gray the same time he looked at her and they shared a moment of silent conversation using their gazes. It went a little something like this.

 _Hey Flame-Brain, looks like you're stuck with a kid._

 _Not like you have any room to talk, Ice Princess. You're holding one, too._

 _Do you sense anything strange about them?_

 _A little. Also, you've stripped._

He looked down to see that, yes, he had indeed lost his shirt. _When did that happen?_

 _A little while ago, actually. I'm sure your shirt is in the bushes a ways back. Anyway, who do you think these kids are?_

 _Well, they seem to know_ us _._

Then their 'staring contest' was ended by Lucy saying to them. "I heard them talking earlier. The girl is Nikko-" Said girl looked over at the blonde, face now clear of tears. "-and the boy is Hoseki."

"Nikko and Hoseki, huh?" Natsu said, gazing at the sleeping boy. Nikko looked over, leaning her head on Gray's bare chest.

"Hoseki wore himself out," she said softly. "We were captured by the bad guys. Mama and Papa were supposed to protect us, but they lied. We were really scared, but I had to keep up a strong façade, to not let Hoseki freak out and burn everything down. It was hard." She her grip around Gray's neck tightened. "Don't leave us again."

Natsu smiled and walked over. "We won't, we promise."

Gray nodded, rubbing Nikko's head. "Yeah, we'll take you back to the guild now."

"Let's get going," Erza interrupted. "We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall."

"Right," everyone else nodded.

With that, Team Natsu - minus Carla and Happy - and their new additions set off through the trees, heading for the grassy plains not far ahead.

* * *

"Auntie Erza, where are we going?" mumbled a half-asleep Hoseki, who was now in Erza's arms - er, arm, as she cradled him with one and pulled her wagon of luggage with the other.

"Home, to the Fairy Tail guild hall," Erza replied with a gentle smile, gazing down at the pink-haired boy with affection. Despite his looks, he was nothing like how Natsu was when she was four - they had asked for their ages, Hoseki was four and Nikko was six. Granted, Erza didn't _know_ Natsu when the fire mage was four, but the redhead was pretty sure the younger female was never this calm.

Natsu let out a yawn, watching the sun begin to settle behind the mountains in the distance behind them. A brisk wind sent shivers down her spine and she wondered how Gray - who never retrieved his shirt - could stand it. Actually, scratch that. He _was_ an ice wizard, and he apparently had stripped in blizzards before. Crazy Ice Princess.

Nikko yawned right after Natsu, nuzzling her nose into Lucy's neck, who had taken over after Gray said his arms were starting to hurt.

"Is somebody getting sleepy?" Lucy asked softly. The midnight-blue haired girl nodded, yawning again.

"I'm not surprised," Natsu sighed, crossing her arms. "I'd be tired too if I was travelling all day at that age."

And then Hoseki yawned. What was up with all the yawning? Natsu felt like a zombie, she was so tired. Maybe that midnight walk to Gray's house was a bad idea after all. She didn't even go inside, just stood at the door for a moment before continuing. Natsu yawned again.

"Erza," she whined. "Can we stop for the night? I can barely stand any more. I feel like I'm about to fall over."

"Mama, did you stay up really late again?" Hoseki asked, though his words were slurred with sleepiness.

Natsu perked up at that, confused as to why they knew that.

"You tend to do that," Nikko replied, looking over at Natsu. "Mama has trouble sleeping sometimes, even when she sleeps with Papa." The two in question blush. "Sometimes Mama has nightmares and it keeps her up. She likes to read to us, and other times she takes walks."

 _How do they know?_ Natsu wondered. _Are they really my kids, especially_ __mine and__ _Gray's?_

 _Whether they are or not, they know too much about us for this to be fake. Then there's what Nikko said. Me and Gray sleeping together?_ She started to blush again, twiddling her thumbs. _That's kind of… I mean… It's not possible._

Gray looked over at the Fire Dragon Slayer before stuffing his hands into his pockets. He had a similar train of thought, but silenced it quickly. There was no way that Flame-Brain had feelings for him, even if he liked her a little bit - okay, a lot, but Gray liked to deny that.

"Alright guys, let's go ahead and set up camp here," Erza said, setting the now sleeping Hoseki on the ground gently, but not before having Natsu put a blanket down for him. Lucy let Nikko down too, and the six year old walked over to her brother, then laid down next to him. They cuddled together and Wendy was reminded of the Fire and Ice mages. When they slept next to each other, they tended to cuddle together too.

Natsu and Gray set up a tent, and Lucy watched them, making sure they didn't fight, unlike the last overnight mission they were on. They both seemed deep in thought, yet worked like a team, flawlessly putting up the tent.

"I got Nikko," Natsu told Gray, picking up said girl.

"Then I'll get Hoseki," the Ice Mage responded, lifting the pink-haired boy into his arms. "Hope you don't mind sharing a tent Flame-Brain."

"As long as you don't freeze me to death, Ice Princess," Natsu said, shouldering her way into the tent.

"I won't if you promise not to burn me in my sleep," Gray shot back, and their friendly bickering continued as the rest of the team set up their tent.

"Those two kids are a lot like them, aren't they?" Lucy asked Erza and Wendy.

"Yeah. I sense Dragon Slayer magic from them too," Wendy replied.

"Really? I feel Maker magic," Erza told them, rolling over to look at the two girls.

"What if they're from the future?" Lucy exclaimed softly, eyes sparkling.

"Unlikely," Erza started. "But still possible. I suppose we'll talk to Master when we get back."

"Yeah, I think that's the best choice of action," Wendy said. "Anyways, good-night you two."

"Good-night," Erza responded.

"'Night," Lucy smiled.

Then the three fell asleep, as did the four in the other tent. They all had a long day ahead of them in the morning.

* * *

 **I apologize if it's not what you guys were hoping for. I'm planning on making a Gratsu(Gray/Natsu) one-shot sometime in the future. Not at the moment, but sometime in the distant future. Two, actually. And no, don't worry about either being female. They'll both be male in those. But this was the best thing I could come up with. I really hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, be expecting updates for all my other stuff. Thank you for being patient with me! I like reading your reviews because it warms my heart, and it's just really awesome seeing what people think. Anywho, thank you for reading and expect the next chapter in 2-4 weeks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! I'm really sorry about the long time since the 1st chapter. Things got busy, I started other projects and everything was an absolute mess. And for the record, this is sometime between the X791 arc and the Grand Magic Games arc, but it's very narrow window. Still, it's before the Tenrou group was told about it. So yes, the Games will probably be in this, 'cause why not. I have some... things planned for it.**

* * *

Natsu awoke to the feeling of small, soft hands shaking her. She groaned and rolled over, only to come face to face with something hard and cold. She opened her eyes to see a chest - Gray's to be exact. She groaned again before sitting up.

"Mama's awake!" Hoseki cheered softly.

"Too early," Natsu said, collapsing again and pulling the blanket over her head. "Five more minutes."

Hoseki pouted before moving over to Gray. He shook the dark-haired Ice Mage. "Papa, wake up! Mama isn't getting up and Auntie Erza's being scary."

"Being scary?" Natsu inquired, taking the blanket off of her face.

"Yeah. She wants to get you out of bed but Nikko isn't letting her in," Hoseki replied.

Natsu sighed, sitting up again. "Alright." She turned to Gray, then shook his shoulder. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up."

"Later," Gray mumbled into his pillow. He grabbed Natsu around her waist, then pulled her down, back flush against his chest. Natsu's face turned red and she attempted to get away, only to fail. She let out a defeated sigh.

"Sorry, bud," Natsu said to Hoseki, who crawled over the two Fairy Tail wizards. "Looks like Papa wants to sleep more and he's not letting Mama go."

"Papa!" Hoseki whined. "Get up!"

"Gray, wake up. You don't want Erza to be mad do you?" Natsu asked. "Not to mention Lucy."

Gray let out a groan similar to Natsu's earlier one. He let the girl go and sat up. "Fine. Also, you snuggle in your sleep."

"Like you're any better!" Natsu exclaimed, also sitting now.

"Flame-for-Brains!"

"Ice Princess!"

"Fire Breath!"

"Popsicle-Pants!"

"Idiot!"

"Bastard!"

"Mama, Papa, stop it!" Hoseki exclaimed with an angry pout.

Natsu sighed as she stood, rubbing the boy's head at she went. She walked over to where her normal clothes were, then gestured for Gray to look away. He rolled his eyes, then walked over to where his clothes were. Hoseki left the tent to tell Erza that the two were getting ready while the teens got dressed. After they were done, the two rolled up their cots, put said cots into their cases, and exited the tent, ready to leave

Once outside, they saw the seething Erza and decided to pack up their tent without a word. Natsu briefly looked at Gray before starting to drift into thought.

 _Why now?_ Was Natsu's first question for the universe. Her second was, _Why us? I mean, it's impossible that it would be me and Gray. We practically hate each other! Well, hate is a strong word. But we're basically rivals! That_ hardly _works out. The likelihood of us officially hooking up is, like, one to a thousand! Though, I did have that tiny crush on him when we were little, but he was always mean to me, so I ignored that crush and decided to be his rival instead._

Meanwhile, Gray was having an argument with himself, hands moving automatically. _If Natsu plus me equals two kids that look like us, times the likelihood of us getting together, then what is the possibility that the kids are from the future? Okay, stop that! Hoseki and Nikko obviously look like Natsu and I, but that doesn't mean they're from the future. Maybe from alternate dimensions? But, what if they_ are _from the future? I_ did _like Natus when we were little. But that makes me question by logic back then, being mean to her to show my affection. And then she retaliated by being mean back, then we became rivals and the feelings faded. Although, now that I think about it, did they really?_

Pulling himself out of thought, Gray noticed that he and Natsu had finished putting the tent up and were just holding the folded cloth - together. Gray quickly backed off and let Natsu put the tent into her backpack. Natsu then turned to Lucy.

"So how are we supposed to tell the guild about this… predicament?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

"Well, we should probably be as blunt as possible, or we might never explain it," Lucy said, crossing her arms.

"True, but I'm worried about the reactions. Juvia specifically…" the pink haired girl trailed off and shuddered at the thought of suffering a slow and painful death by a love-crazed stalker that can use water magic.

"Yeah. She can be really scary when it comes to Gray," Lucy replied, a shiver going down her spine - half in pity, half in terror.

"Hey, Lucy, Natsu, time to get going," Erza called. The two looked over to see Nikko, Hoseki and Gray already there.

"Right!" Lucy exclaimed, then turned to Natsu. "Just be careful about Juvia."

"Yeah," Natsu replied, and the two started on their way back to Fairy Tail.

* * *

"Not another train!" Natsu groaned, leaning on an annoyed Gray's shoulder.

"Do you need to be knocked out?" Gray asked, an irk mark on his forehead.

Natsu let out a half-hearted retort about Gray being a snowflake before collapsing onto his lap. He glared down at the girl, then 'hmph'd and looked away, arms crossed. Hoseki seemed to contemplate something before turning to Erza.

"Auntie Erza, can you come with me? I need to go get something that was in Mama's luggage," the pink-haired child said, tugging lightly on the redhead's skirt.

"Of course," Erza smiled down gently. "But what is it you want?"

"Just come on!" Hoseki grinned, then took off down the hallway of the cart, Erza's wrist in his hand.

Meanwhile, Gray glared at Natsu again, before turning to Lucy. "Get her off of me."

"Why?" Lucy replied, turning away from Wendy.

"Because it's annoying," Gray replied dryly.

"Alright, fine," the blonde sighed, then stood and walked over. She pushed Natsu up gently, trying not to jostle the girl too quickly moved and sat next to Wendy while Lucy took the ice wizard's place being Natsu's pillow.

Lucy let out another sigh, then began to comb through the shoulder-length pink hair, like she'd done many times before when Natsu was plagued by motion sickness.

Over by Gray and Wendy, poor Nikko was leaning on the wall of the train, looking outside the window. She was in a similar situation to Natsu, but not as bad. Every now and then, the dark-haired girl would hold her hand up to her mouth, as if to stop from throwing up.

"Mama, it hurts," Nikko whined.

" _I know, baby."_

The little girl looked over at the pink-haired woman to see that she was well near passing out. Despite that, though, Natsu was giving her a gentle smile.

"It's alright. It always passes," Natsu told her. The young woman then put a hand on her mouth and leaned over, about to throw up. Gray quickly put a bucket underneath her head, more out of reflex than anything else, and the pink-haired girl vomited into it.

A few moments later, Hoseki came back with Erza, a glass flask in his hand. The redhead looked at Natsu's sorry state and sighed.

"She needs to get over that motion sickness," Erza said.

"Well, her Dragon Slayer magic has a different opinion about that," Wendy said, still upset that the Troia spell wasn't working. "Again, I'm really sorry, Natsu!"

"It's fine," Natsu moaned, still half falling off of Lucy's lap.

Over with Hoseki, the young boy let go of Erza's hand, thanking her as he went, and ran over to his sister. He held up the flask with a grin. "Nikko, I made and brought it!"

"Thanks, Hoseki," the dark-haired girl responded, taking the offered object. She pulled the cork out gently, then took a swig of the liquid inside.

"What is that?" Gray asked.

"A potion that cures motion sickness. You don't recognize it Papa?" Hoseki replied, turning to the other male.

Gray had a slightly confused look on his face and exchanged a look with Wendy, who was also confused. With an almost-sigh, the Ice Make wizard turned to Hoseki. "Motion sickness cure, huh? Did you make it for Natsu?"

Now it was Hoseki's turn to look confused. "Me? I didn't make it, you did! Then you taught me how to make it for Nikko and Mama. Papa, you're being weird today."

That statement seemed to make a few light bulbs to light up in Nikko's head, too. "Now that you've said something, so have Mama, and Auntie, Lucy, Wendy and Erza."

Gray opened his mouth to say something, but just then, the train stopped and shook violently. Natsu fell to the floor, Erza stumbled slightly, Lucy, Wendy, and Gray stood, ready to protect those who needed it, and Hoseki and Nikko fell over on top of each other - and Natsu.

Natsu grumbled for a moment before realizing what had happened. "Hey, we've stopped moving!"

"Joyous day," Gray replied sarcastically. There was static before someone talking came over the intercom-lacrima.

"Citizens, this train has been taken over by the bandit group Spicy Tamales. If you want to keep your life, I recommend not resisting," a gruff voice said.

"Spicy Tamales? Sounds like a food," Lucy said. Nikko stood, getting off of Natsu, and helped Hoseki get back on his feet.

Erza pulled out her sword. "Let's get going."

"Sure thing!" Natsu said, standing and punching one hand with the other in a fist.

"As long as we get back to the guild hall before nightfall," Gray replied.

"Just let me…" Lucy trailed off, before pulling out one of her keys. "Aha! Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!"

There was a gold flash and Loke was now in the train car. The two kids' eyes lit up at seeing him.

"Uncle Loke!" they cried, leaping at him.

"What the-? Lucy, what is this?" Loke shot his key-bearer a look.

"I'm sorry! We found them on the side of the road in some bushes and they basically attached themselves to us!" Lucy exclaimed. "Besides, we weren't gonna leave them. That's just cruel."

After a bit of bickering from the celestial wizard and her spirit, Team Natsu, and the two kids, were on their way to the front car.


	3. Chapter 3

**X802**

"Where are they?!"

"I don't know! We've tracked down the enemy's base but they're not here! In fact, there isn't anybody in the building."

"But how can an entire group just disappear?"

"How the hell should I know?!" A slight growl in the tone this time.

"You need to calm down. We won't get anywhere if we keep rampaging about."

A sigh. "You're right. But it's just so frustrating! They took my kids and I can't do anything about it!"

"Honestly, we're just lucky their father is on a separate mission. If he were here… Well, let's just say they wouldn't have a base anymore."

"It's sad that it's true."

"I guess it's back to square one, huh?"

"Yeah. We should get back to the guild hall."

With that, the Trio of Fairy Tail wizards left for their guild hall, the lead actually leading them nowhere.

 _Nikko, Hoseki, I hope you're safe._

* * *

 **X791**

Back on the train, the group was moving to the front swiftly. Natsu, as always, sped ahead while Gray right on her heels. Erza had requiped her sword, about half a car behind, with Wendy and Lucy behind her, and Loke was bringing up the rear with the two children still attached to him. This fact hardly bothered him - he _was_ Leo the Lion of the Zodiac.

Soon, the group reached the front car to see six men with maces, hammers, and swords and dressed in armor that bandits would have. The train's engineer was quivering in the corner.

"You ready?" Natsu asked.

"Hell yeah!" Gray responded, just as the rest came in.

Leo pulled the two kids off of him and set them down. "Now stay here, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."

The two nodded before Nikko took a defensive position in front of Hoseki, ready to fight if need be. With that, Team Natsu started the battle against the bandits.

"Fire Dragon, Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted, running at one of her opponents. She punched them with a flaming fist.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray cast the spell and it attacked a bandit. Said bandit fell to the ground, twitching in pain.

"Loke!" Lucy commanded.

"On it!" Loke grinned, then used Regulus Impact on his enemy. Erza was very nonverbal, simply using her sword to cut him down.

There was one left. Natsu turned and- where'd they go?!

"Get away from us!" Nikko's wavering voice rang out in the car. "D-don't make me use my magic!"

"Nikko, Hoseki!" Gray called out.

The bandit - who seemed to be the leader - smirked and took another step forward. The crying girl took in a deep breath and-

"Fire Make: Dragon's Ice!" she cried out and a small, cold flame lit on his foot. The bandit looked down, then laughed.

"Really? That's all you can muster? Ha! I can do more than that in my sleep!" Bandit Leader exclaimed.

Nikko's eyes grew wide in terror as both she and Hoseki were picked up and used as leverage against Team Natsu. "You attack me, you hurt them, too!"

Natsu ground her teeth, hands in clenched fists. The nerve of this guy! How dare he?! However, the pinkette was unable to do anything as Gray beat her to it.

In an instant, the Ice-Make wizard was behind the Bandit Leader, a dagger made of ice in his hand and to the bandit's neck. The bandit looked like he had just shit his pants.

"You don't want to make an enemy of Fairy Tail, do you?" Gray asked in a cold, menacing voice.

The bandit quick shook his head.

"Then you will let them go. Now," the wizard said with a tone of finality in his voice. Natsu walked up and pulled the two children away from their opponent. As soon as they were in her arms, they clung to her and wouldn't let go.

The ice wizard made quick work of the leader by knocking him out. Erza quickly tied them all up and called the authorities, who locked them up in jail. The engineer of the train expressed his gratitude by offering coupons for a free ride on their next train, but Erza humbly refused, to Lucy's slight dismay.

"You were right Lucy, the kids _do_ seem a lot like them, right down to magical power," Loke said to his wizard.

"It's hard to tell where they came from. They told us they're from Fairy Tail, but I've never seen them," Wendy pondered.

"Our theory is that they're from the future," Erza told the spirit.

Suddenly, it seemed as if Lucy had an idea. "Hey, Loke! Can you see if there are any Celestial Spirit spells that would send somebody to the past?"

"Sure thing," Loke responded, then closed his own gate. "See ya when I figure out your answer!"

"Thanks, Loke," Lucy murmured.

"Are they okay?" Erza asked, walking over to Natsu.

"Yeah, just scared," Natsu replied, subconsciously making a slight rumble in her chest to calm the two down.

"Holy crap! It looks light you're vibrating!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Huh?" Natsu said dumbly. "Oh! You're talking about my… purr? I don't know. It's something I've always been able to do. I didn't realize I was doing it."

"It always calms us down," Hoseki said, half-asleep again.

"Um, would you wizards mind going back to your seats so I can start the train again?" The engineer interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Gray replied. "Come on you guys."

The group walked back to their train car and Gray took the two kids from Natsu with a little prying. Just in time, too, as the train started moving again. Natsu was once again doubled over in motion sickness. She couldn't wait until they got back to the guild hall.

* * *

 **X802**

Natsu burst through the door, as per usual. "It was a bust!"

"Really?! And I was sure that was the place this time!" Levy pouted.

"Well, I caught a faint trace of their scents, but they weren't there. Nobody was!" Natsu replied. "So don't feel so down."

"She's right, Levy. You should cheer up, they're still out there somewhere - we just have to find out where they disappeared to," Lucy comforted.

"Hey, Gramps! The lead didn't lead anywhere!" Natsu called over to the 99-year-old man as she approached. Somehow, the old man was still alive, hardly kicking the bucket. Though really, what would you expect from a Fairy Tail wizard?

"Hmm, this is concerning. No trace of the enemies either?" Makarov asked.

"Nope, not a thing," the woman sighed, concerned about her children, but also wanting to beat up whoever took them. "But I have a theory on where they are. Or rather-"

The doors were slammed open once again, interrupting the dragonslayer. "Hey, Natsu! I'm back!"

"Crap," Natsu muttered under her breath before turning to face her husband. "Welcome back, Gray!"

Gray, noticing the pinkette's distress, walked up to her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "What's the matter?"

"Only that some jerks took our kids and as soon as I find them, I'll beat them to a pulp-!" Natsu had turned around during her rant and raised a fist menacingly, teeth seeming sharper, before turning back to Gray. "-Nothing much."

It took a moment for Gray to realize what she had said before-

" _What?!"_

* * *

 **X791**

When Team Natsu arrived back at the guild, a discussion was going on. Natsu, being Natsu, just had to but in.

"There's this guild called Sabertooth," Romeo was explaining Carla.

"Sabertooth?" Natsu asked, sitting at the table. Lucy, Wendy, and Gray sat down with her.

"A tiger for sabers for teeth. Sabertooth, get it?" Romeo said. "Even Tenma and Lamia disregard them. They're currently the strongest guild in Fiore."

"Never heard of 'em," Gray responded, still holding Hoseki. Nikko was in Natsu's arms. Neither child made a comment on how none of Team Natsu knew Sabertooth, nor how they were number one in Fiore. They were just glad to be in their parents' arms, safe and away from any danger.

Nab and Elfman had stopped their arm wrestling match to look at the two unknown kids, drawing some other guild members' attention. Romeo was a bit distracted, too, but was busy explaining.

"They weren't anything special seven years ago," Alzack replied, looking at Nikko, who shied away from the attention.

"So you're saying they grew suddenly over these last several years?" Gray asked.

"It started when their guild master recruited five very strange, yet capable mages," Max said, turning from his game of cards with Warren. Now, these two had seen.

"Five people alone make that much difference?" Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder and at Max.

"Oh? I like his style," Natsu grinned.

"So what rank is our guild now?" Wendy questioned.

"You really wanna know?" Happy replied, leaning away from the girl.

"You haven't heard yet," Carla said, more of a statement than a question.

"Huh?" Wendy said dumbly.

"Absolute last place," Romeo.

"A super tiny weak little guild," from Alzack.

"The weakest guild in Fiore," was Bisca's response

"Ahh! Sorry for asking!" Wendy exclaimed.

Natsu broke out in semi-maniacal laughter, one foot on the table, other on her chair, arms still holding Nikko close to her chest. "Sounds great! Very interesting!"

"Mama…!" Nikko muttered in protest but didn't make any move to get Natsu to sit.

"Wha..?" Gray said, a confused Hoseki in his lap. Fairy Tail was supposed to be the _strongest_ guild, not the _weakest_. Something was definitely off here, and Nikko knew it, too.

"You get it don't you?!" Natsu said, using one hand in a fist, while still managing to hold the young girl. "I'm looking forward to the chance to climb higher! How many opportunities like that do you get?!"

"Aww, geez," Gray sighed fondly, leaning his head on a palm, holding Hoseki with his other arm while Lucy laughed.

"Natsu is the same as ever," Romeo grinned, Alzack and Bisca laughing next to him. Actually, pretty much the whole guild was laughing, attention no longer on the two children.

"Yeah, I'm excited too!" Wendy exclaimed.

"So, um…" Juvia started. "Gray-sama, who are these kids?"

Before anyone could respond, Erza interjected. "We were going to talk to the guild master - or rather, Makarov - before revealing any information about them. Speaking of Makarov, he's currently with Gildarts in the old Fairy Tail building."

"Thanks, Erza," Cana called, running out of the current guild hall.

"Uh, you're welcome?" The Requip mage replied. "But what for?"

"You told me where Gildarts was!"

"Cana's devotion to Gildarts is really amazing, huh?" Happy asked Carla.

"That's the strongest power of this guild," Carla replied.

"It really is," Lucy smiled, looking between Natsu and Gray.

"Why're you looking at us?" Natsu questioned, breaking out of her staring contest with Gray.

"Oh, no reason!" The blonde quickly covered it up by waving her hand dismissively. The two shrugged before Natsu looked down at a wiggling Nikko.

"Mama, can you let me go?" Nikko asked.

"Oh, sure," Natsu replied, putting the child down. Now that caught some attention.

"Mama?" Lisanna questioned, confused.

Natsu froze, a light pink dusting her cheeks. She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Um… yeah?"

"That's… interesting. When did you have a kid?" Mira replied.

"Silly question, Auntie Mira!" Hoseki giggled. "I fou', so Mama had me fou' years ago! Sis' six, so she was six years ago!"

"Ah, I see," Mira smiled and nodding faux understanding like you would with a kid.

Before the conversation could continue any further, Max stood abruptly, slapping a hand down on the table. "Natsu, I challenge you to a duel!"

* * *

 **X802**

"Calm down, Gray," Natsu sighed, lightly tapping her husband's head with her knuckles. "You remember 11 years ago, right?"

"Yea- oh…" Gray seemed to come to a conclusion of some sort. "You mean-?"

"Yup, that's what I mean," Natsu grinned. "They're safe. I figured it out on our way back from the enemy's base."

"Was that the theory you were talking about just now?" Makarov asked.

"Yea," the pinkette nodded. "My theory is that they are safe, but that they've been moved from this point in time."

"My only question is why," Erza muttered, holding her chin in contemplation.

Across the guild hall, a seven-year-old black haired, brown eyed girl holding a stuffed bear tugged on Levy's sleeve. "Mommy, when are Nikko and Hoseki coming back?"

"I'm sure they'll be back soon, squirt," Gajeel ruffled his daughter's head. The girl bit on the teddy bear's ear, while thinking, _I hope so. I miss them._

"It's gonna be okay, Mia," Levy picked the girl up, giving her a hug. "After all, we have Team Natsu looking for them!"

"That's right," Gajeel encouraged. "If anyone can find those two, it's Salamander and her team."

"Natsu!" This time, it was a blue-haired teenager. "I found a spell that could have been used!"

"Good job, Wendy!" Natsu called back. Just as Wendy reached their location… she tripped.

"Woah, are you okay?" Lucy asked, helping the younger girl to her feet.

"Yeah, this happens all the time," the bluenette smiled. "Anyway, Natsu, I found something. It's a spell that's used to send somebody into the past. The caster is the person who determines where they go. The spell can only be undone if the person sent back does what the caster sent them to do."

"Well, what happened _then_?" Natsu looked up at the ceiling in thought. "It was the year we came back from Tenrou Island…"


End file.
